You could be getting your advertising commentary from a more experienced, higher-paid, and prettier ad exec.
But the downbeat and bass line are in our hands--
the adstar wannabes climbing the corporate ladder.
As yet uncorrupted, somewhat uncouth, and utterly unrestrained, this is the view from the bottom, laid down by a first-year copywriter.
Admit it.
You're jealous I just might be prettier.
According to advertising tradition, that makes me a more viable source of information.

8.25.2008

i was reading Faris' blog, as i usually do, when i came across his post regarding The Moth, a slam-style storytelling circle in NY and LA. apart from the fact that it's bloody awesome (and that i will probably go to the Nuyorican showing), it got me thinking about moths and butterflies--a motif that has been following me for months now.

"the founders felt was analogous to:the characters in their best stories would often find themselves drawn to some bright light—of adventure, ambition, knowledge—but then find themselves burned or trapped, leaving them with some essential conflict to face before the story could reach its conclusion."

the moth represents conflict with the world. it is the self which both loves and yearns. like the butterfly, it too forms a cocoon and transforms itself, but that is not what it has come to symbolize. the moth is about the tension of reconciliation; the struggle for understanding with the exterior world and our place in it.

the butterfly represents conflict with oneself. the symbolic butterfly is about the personal journey, the thing one must undergo in order to develop into our full potential. it is an interior search. the butterfly becomes a symbol of freedom and beauty once the insect emerges. the story ends there.

the one, emphasis on the interactive journey; the other, emphasis on the personal journey. i identify a lot with moths in that regard, but i also came to think about it in terms of creative, and in terms of advertising. for a long time, advertising has been the butterfly. it has been about the personal, transformative journey of the brand. it is this point of view which expects others to love simply out of the respect and beauty of this journey.

this brand has not yet tried to find its place in the world. it has not reconciled itself to interaction, to the space outside of its own head. some advertising is handling brands like moths, are pursuing that tension between self and other, and are fostering those spaces. they are telling the stories not about themselves, but about connections.

in this way, moth branding is more accessible. it asks me to identify with our common spaces, rather than identify with your personal journey. i am not going to like you because you are a heap big 60 year old auto company that has survived through the years and shown your mettle; i will identify with you on my own terms, the ones that show the light of you and i.

but, like the moth, there will be tension. we are experiencing this now, with words like monetization, cashification, viral, social, what have you. we are trying to find our way through this jungle. advertising is romancing the light. only some will get burned. some will have never tried at all.

on riot grrrl

as some of you know, i have an intense love for riot grrrl music, & wish i'd been born a few years earlier to be around for it. Kathleen Hanna is one of my heroes.

it began in Olympia WA & its foremothers are many (from Sonic Youth to Joan Jett), but it's credited as beginning with artists Bikini Kill & Bratmobile, among others. riot grrrl was a reaction to the misogynism of 1980s punk rock & the sexism at the shows.

as such, it formed along side grunge, finding friends in acts like Nirvana and Atari Teenage Riot, but sought a safe space for women to speak about their own silenced issues. the culture involved not only music, but art, zines, sit-ins, & emphasis on DIY ('do-it-yourself').

"we're not anti-boy, we're pro-girl": men were not excluded; some riot grrrl bands had male musicians. Kill Rock Stars, a riot grrrl positive label, was formed with right hand man, Slim Moon. riot grrrl is often characterized as both personal & political, with influences of punk rock distortion.